Beauty Becomes A Beast
by TheBrokenLady
Summary: Belle never wanted anything from anyone. Ever. Just peace and quite, a chance to escape the mundane thralls of being a teenager. But this is Beacon Hills and when does anyone ever get what they want?
1. Intro

The condensation of my breath gathered to the cold window as the dull roar of the other people on the bus clamored excitedly about their weekends. I however had nothing to say about my weekend. I never did; cause I never did anything. I closed my eyes and tried to shut out their voices more than ever. _I hate high school._

Like many others I was more than ready to move away from the middle of no where town and start my life somewhere else; somewhere new. Well over a decade of school made everything seem like an adventure, and there was nothing for me here anymore. I was a social outcast, mostly for the way I decided to dress, but also for being intensely smart. Last year as a junior I was offered a full ride to Oxford, but decided to finish out high school before making any life altering decisions. Boy was that a mistake. Now in my senior year I could smell the freedom that was only a few months away. That and the morning "wake-and-bake".

The ancient bus rounded a corner, pressing my face against the cold window reawakening me to my own reality. I sighed and sat up right, rubbing away the moisture that had collected on my cheek. I looked forward and saw the red brick building looming ahead in the rising sunlight, annoyance blooming in the pit of my stomach. I turned and looked out the window at the people who were lucky enough to have their own cars, or friends to transport them to school. The buzz on the bus slowly quieted down as we pulled up the curb, everyone on the edge of their seats waiting to leap to their feet once those bus doors opened. I learned it was best to wait and let everyone off first as to avoid being trampled. The final step to stopping the bus, the squeaking brakes and the lurching of the students who were too eager. Finally the bus stopped the and doors opened. In a rush of madness people surged forward, pushing each other over to reach the exit and breath fresh air. It was reminiscent of a black-Friday at Walmart; a cuckoo-cuckoo house. I waited in silence as an endless stream of young teenagers rushed past my seat, knowing full well that trying to jump out would be suicide.

Once the final person passed my seat I stood up and walked out in the aisle, with my back-pack tossed over my shoulder in a truer than life nonchalant form. Only a few seats away from the driver I made my quick descent down the steps and hopped onto the gray pavement. My snow white blonde hair bounced carelessly and for a moment all I could see was the pale strands of my hair. A stray breeze drifted across my path and blew my hair back, once more revealing the high school in its looming glory, now standing three stories above me.

"Beacon Hills High School."


	2. Chapter 1

I shifted my back-pack uncomfortably and walked toward the school building. The second-hand combat boots I wore made dull clicking sounds as they moved forward, uncaring for whoever walked in their way. Of course the owner of didn't really care either. I really didn't care for much of anything. Not anymore.

I moved through the seem less end of cliche groups that crowded near the entrance of the school. I never really understood that part of high school; people standing outside despite the cold, rain, or blistering heat. It was really stupid. Gripping the cold door handle I walked into an even more crowded hallway of students.

"Excuse me." I whispered silently, interweaving between the mass of students. Annoyingly I made it out of the crowd and saw the open hallway standing before me with other students milling about or standing at their lockers. It looked like a good idea so I too moved toward my locker. I gripped the thin straps of my backpack and walked up the small flight of stairs, continuously moving through students who were moving in the opposite direction.

Finally making it to my locker, I twisted the knob, entering the lock combination. Inside the brisk air greeted me and I found the only contents the same as they always were- two texts books and a small journal. Sighing I took up the objects and stared at the blank locker walls nothing really running through my head._Well I guess I picked this life so I don't have much to complain about. _I slammed the locker shut with my books pressed up against my chest and turned around to walk away only to run into a very solid mass.

"Ugh!" I fell backwards and my books went flying out of my hands onto the floor. Landing on my ass I grew suddenly very annoyed and looked up to see who was the idiot that had ran into me. He was a skinny, tall, pretty awkward boy. For a moment I just looked at him, surprised he'd managed to make me fall over.

"Oh my gosh." He scrambled to pick up my books as on lookers stared and giggled. Blowing a stray hair out of my face I moved to my knees and helped pick up the papers he'd been caring. "I'm so sorry-" he cut off as he looked me in the face, his skin suddenly turning pale. Apparently my own reputation exceeded me, but after watching him stumbled with my books and his papers all while trying to apologize was actually kind of cute. In a puppy sort of way.

"Hey man no worries. Shit happens." I smiled as I continued to pick up papers. He nodded dumbly, watching the scene before him. It was to be expected, I was not known for my fondness of other people, boys in particular. After I had collected the papers in my hand, I gave them to the boy in exchange for my own stuff.

"Uh, yeah. Cool. Thanks." He moved to walk away but stopped half way. "Hey, uh, my name is Stiles."

_Stiles. Weird name. _"Its nice to meet you. My name's Belle. Belle Fermecat."


	3. Chapter 2

I walked away from the boy and made my way to my first period classroom. Trying to ignore the nagging feeling in my gut that something about that boy was actually quite important. Luckily the bell ringing did that by reminding me I was about to be late for class.

The day consisted of five classes; science, english, writing, math, and , everyone's favorite, study hall. Most people took study hall as a free class to just sit around and talk, while others, like myself actually used it to study. Walking into the classroom, the substitute teacher sat behind the desk, his big nose planted firmly in a book, not paying even the slightest bit of attention to his students. Which was fine because no one really paid attention to him as they all sat around and gossiped. I took a seat at a desk next to the window and pulled out my journal, flipping to a blank page. With the journal open on my desk, I turned to stare out the window looking for something to inspire me.

The journal was actually a drawing pad that was given to me as a birthday present from when I was younger, and though it wasn't very nice, it was very dear to me. Everyday during study hall, when I didn't have any home work I would doodle something that was on my mind.

"Have you guys seen that black Camaro around town? Dude that car is so sweet!" the sound of a sophomores cracking voice brought me back to reality. His friends nodded in agreement.

"Dude that car belongs to Derek Hale!" That caught my attention. I turned my hearing to their conversation, but didn't look away from the window. I remembered Derek Hale. I was a sophomore like those boys when he was where I am. By that time the accident that claimed almost his entire family had already come to pass. Derek was cold after that, not that I ever attempted to talk to him. Honestly he scared even me a little bit. I tried to recall what he looked like, but so much time had passed since I'd seen his face, let alone seen him around town. I'd thought he'd left, but from what I was hearing he was back in town- but why? What could possibly bring him back to the town where he'd lost his entire family?

My eyes traveled away from the window and to the blank paper before me. The pencil in my hand seemed to find a line below the surface and traced it out, then another and another. Mindlessly the lead traveled across the surface pulling an image out from the white. I fell into a trance looking beyond the paper, letting my hands guide me to the image that was so deeply rooted within my own mind.

_RING. _The sound of the bell snapped my trance pretty quickly though, the way it always did. I placed my pencil down and rubbed my eyes, attempting to make them work normally again. Placing the pencil back inside my backpack I stopped to see what I had drawn and was surprised to find a face staring back at me. A familiar face, and an old one. I gave a small chuckle and closed the journal. _Of course it would be Derek Hale. _

With the room vacant I strolled out, glad to not have to fight the flow of foot traffic as I made my way back to my locker. Upon reaching my locker I placed my two textbooks inside, but stopped at my journal. I ran my hands over the soft leather cover with textile-like patterns etched into the surface. Opening the cover again, I filtered through different drawings of birds, trees, other people, until I came to Derek's face. I looked at it for another long moment, studying the flow of his jaw and nose lines, wondering how I was able to recall with striking detail those features. Sighing I closed the journal and placed it back inside my locker, knowing that the answer I wanted would probably never be revealed to me.

Exiting the school building I moved to the right where the large yellow buses were grouped together and the student body mingled as they all tried to get onto their buses at the same time. I was never in much of a hurry to get home, so I would wait my turn while the masses sorted themselves out. I watched as the line for the bus shortened until my desired wait time then I too joined the line.

As expected the ride was noisy, crowded, and of course, pungent with the stench of hormonal teenagers. With my backpack in my lap I looked forward out of the dirty window, bouncing with every crack in the road, and let my mind go blank. Why did I choose this life? Why did I choose to be alone? My family…_my family is dead to me. _The cold thought brought me back to reality, just as the bus rolled up to its first stop; mine that is. Shifting the backpack onto my shoulder I walked off the bus and back into the blazing heat of the afternoon bus door closed behind me and took off down the paved road, leaving me standing on the edge of the hicks trailer park of Beacon Hills.

Loose grave mixed with dusty tan dirt mingled in the air as I shuffled down the main road of the the trailer park. I lived at the end of the road, my small trailer tucked right there at the end, just before the bend that led deeper into the park.

A small white picket fence neatly wrapped itself around the round trailer with a strange purple flower growing just outside the fence. I'd never bothered trying to get rid of the flowers, even though once of twice the land owner had threatened to kick me out if I didn't. And yet here I was.

I unlatched the fence door and moved inside, quickly climbing the metal steps with my keys in hand to unlock the door. The smell of sweet air rushed through the open door as I entered the trailer. Closing the door behind me, I let my eyes adjust to the dim light that filtered through the closed, red blinds. Sliding out of my shoes I dropped my bag on the floor next to the door. For some odd reason I always kept a baseball bat by the door, just in case another thought it would be a good idea to come and fuck with my trailer. I walked into my small kitchen, equipped with a small oven, sink and refrigerator which was also fashioned in a red manner. Picking up a clean coffee mug from the counter I flipped on the faucet and watched at the water filled the mug. Ironically enough I didn't actually drink coffee, but I collected coffee mugs. Sure enough if you looked at my wall you would see a hefty collected of coffee mugs in all sizes and shapes.

After admiring my collection I walked back to my room with my mug in fuzzy tan carpet was matted down after years of walking across it, even in my room, but it was spotless of any stains much to my pride. Pushing the wooden door aside I walked into my very plain and simple room. A mattress with a red comforter and two white pillows, a mirror and closet, which was poorly filled. Finishing off my water I placed the mug down on the floor and changed out of my jeans into my lazy sweats.

"Oh my god, finally." I flexed suddenly freed from the containment of my pants. I picked up my mug again and moved back into the living room, placing the mug on the kitchen counter as I walked past and made my way into my living room. Simply furnished as well the living room consisted of a table, red couch with a massive blanket draped across it, and bookshelf over flowing with books. No television, no computer, no connection to the outside word; complete isolation. I smiled and fell down on to the red couch and bundled myself inside the blanket. I looked at the digital clock on the oven just across the way from the living room and saw that it read three in the afternoon. _Nap time. _Sure enough my eye lids grew droopy and eventually closed to the warm and calm of the afternoon.

_**BOOM.**_Flung from my sleeping spot on the couch by something impacting itself on my trailer I fell between the couch and table. Grunting as I hit the floor I groaned with annoyance.

"Why me?" I muttered under my breath, my blanket still very much wrapped around me tightly. _Crack!_ That was the sound of my fence breaking along with my patience. "Fuck." I sat up and unraveled myself from the blanket. Now with an impeccable bed head I stomped over to the trailer door, ready to give what I thought was a drunk driver a big piece of my mind. Reaching out to open the door I stopped as the air suddenly turned to ice and pulled my hand back. It wasn't the air that had turned to ice, but a chill had run up my spin stopping me from opening the door. Good thing too. A low, deep growl vibrated through the walls and I took another step back from the door.

It wasn't the growl of a dog, it sounded bigger and much angrier, almost like something out of a child's nightmare. I placed my hand over my mouth and moved another step away back, my body shaking with adrenaline as fear began to over take me. Then I heard something else- a man's cough. Someone as out there. Out there with that thing. I had to do something before he got hurt, or worse, but my fear kept my feet firmly planted a few feet away from the door. _Move Belle. Move! _My mind urged me forward, fighting the fear despite its control. The beast growled again, this time closer than before, then in a terrifying moment let out a roar. It ripped through the metal walls so violently I thought that it might tear them away and leave me exposed for the beast. I struggled to hold in my scream, but sank to my knees and began to cry. Pulling my knees into my chest I sat just before the door and shut my eyes tight.

_"Belle"…_a woman's voice called out in my head. It was warm and familiar but was distant as if through a fog. I placed my hands over my ears, shutting out all of the other noise that wasn't the voice. "_Belle open the door sweetie." _It was my mother. This was just a memory. _I'd locked myself in the broom closet, after having seen my mother collapse. She was sick and when I saw her fall I'd become scared. I stayed in the room, locked from within for six hours until my mother had returned from the hospital. "I'm too scare mommy." I cried my head buried in knees. "Focus on my voice. Everything will be alright. You are stronger than fear." I looked up in the darkness at the door, sensing my mother just on the other side. "That's right. I'm here baby. Come out into the light."_ I opened my eyes to the dim light of my trailer, feeling the fear being melted away by a warm light.

"I am stronger than my fear…" I whispered, standing slowly to my feet. Someone out there was in danger and needed my help, I had to do something. With my mother voice in my heart I gathered my courage and took a step toward the door. I glanced down at my baseball bat and wrapped my fingers around its cold metal. _Something is better than nothing. _Taking breath I gripped the door knob with white knuckles and opened it to what ever was waiting outside


	4. Chapter 3

The porch light flickered faintly, continuously casting the busted up front yard in light, then shadow. Sweat beads began to form on my temple as I stood in the open door way, baseball bat primed and ready to swing at the first thing that moved. The door started to swing back inwards to me due to my forceful entry, but I bumped it back with my right elbow.

"Y'all better get! Get out of here!" I shouted into the night, hoping to scare away the thing from earlier. Maybe it was like a bear; bears were afraid of loud sounds so this would be too right? For good measure I took the baseball bat and hit the metal wall of my trailer causing a loud ringing sound to echo off the other trailers. Nothing moved.

I took my first step down the stairs, my head on a swivel and all of my senses working in over time. As I descended to the second step and nothing had changed I quickly moved around the door to where the sound of the thing running into my trailer had come from. What I found made me stop short.

There wasn't a car, there wasn't anything other than a man, slumped over and leaning against my trailer. _Could it have been him? _I took one more glance around and slowly leaned down next to the unconscious man.

"Hey, if you're even alive, now would be a really great time to wake up." I spoke to him, but kept my eyes scanning the fence line for any changes. Behind me the man stirred as if to let me know he was indeed alive. For an instant I turned away to inspect the man further. In the darkness I could tell he was a big guy, with black hair and a weathered leather jacket.

_Snap!_ I whipped my head around and my heart all together stopped. I stood up, my sweaty palms continuously re-gripping the baseball bat for better grip. Apparently this was not like a bear. Not in the least bit.

The creature stood just outside of the main light, preferring to stand in the shadow as if keeping itself secret from my eyes. But when the light would flicker off I could better see the outline of the monstrous being. It was a large as a Hummer and covered in a thick fur which swayed slightly as it moved forward and backward, calculating its next move. Red eyes were the only thing completely visible in both the darkness and the light; red eyes that were filled with hunger and anger as they looked into mine.

I could hear my heart pounding in my ears as I struggled to stand my ground. _I am stronger than my fear. _I took a deep breath and managed to hold onto my lunch.

"Go away!" I shouted raising the bat up in the air, threatening to swing, but the beast didn't move. Instead it cackled as if amused by my words, and let me tell you being laughed at by an animal is a serious demoralizer. Especially by something this big. The red eyes looked away from me and toward the body standing behind me as if to tell me that I wasn't what it was interested in. "No." I cut off its line of sight. "You're not having him tonight."

The amusement in its eyes all but vanished to annoyance, and it took a step forward.

"I said no." My voice became more stern. The thing flicked and ear as if something else had caught its attention, but raised its foot to take another step towards the light. "Go. Away." Now the beast seemed to by physically bothered by my words, as it began to snaps its massive jaws and growl.

"**GO AWAY!**" I shouted at the top of my lungs, making my own intents known to this beast and the rest of the neighborhood. A force seemed to knock the beast backwards, its claws digging into the green grass to slow its exit in vain. With a final shove the beast landed outside of were the picket fence once stood, but was back on its feet in seconds, roaring and thrashing its massive claws at the air.

Unsure at what had just happened, it decided now was a really great time to leave the front yard. I lowered my bat and moved back toward the man, always keeping an eye on the incredibly angry beast just outside my lot.

"We have to get you inside. Come on." I moved the bat to my left hand and snaked my right arms under the man's arm, firmly wrapping it around his waist. Remember what I said earlier about him being a big guy? I tried to take his body weight, but was foolishly reminded how weak I was. "Alright you want to get out of here, you're going to have to get up you ton of bricks!" I huffed, trying to stand again. Silence filled the area and I looked up to see the beast had stopped and was now just staring at me. Not the guy- me. "Now would be better than later!" I nudged him.

As if finally hearing me the man struggled to his feet, which was all the help I really needed. Tightening my grip around his muscular frame we moved around the open front door and up the stairs. With him inside I placed my bat by the door and walked the towering man over to the couch. Carelessly dropping him down I moved back toward the door, the beast still watching just beyond the fence.

"Now why don't you be a good monster and go bother someone else?" I sneered and shut the door, surprised by my own boldness. Outside the beast let out a final roar, then it became silent, not even a cricket could be heard. _He's still out there. _Groaning from behind me brought me back to the moment. I'd almost forgotten the bleeding man laying on my couch.

I walked back to the man, who drifted in between unconscious. Now in the light I could clearly see the ordeal the man had gone through. Five long cuts ran down the man's chest, only visibly due to his ripped, bloodied, what I assumed was once a blue shirt.

"Okay, okay, okay, uh, first aid kit!" I said aloud as I ran into the bathroom and searched frantically underneath the sink. "Where the hell- Ah! There you are you son of a bitch." I wrapped my fingers around the small box and moved back to the living room. I was genuinely surprised to find the man now standing, looking at his surroundings with a dumbfounded look plastered across his face. His eyes fell on me and as he opened his mouth to speak, his face turned white and slummed forward. "Shit!" I dropped the first aid kit onto the kitchen counter and rushed to catch the massive man.

My hands wrapped around his chest as I literally took on the majority of his weight and for a moment we just stood there. I was pretty sure he was unconscious, so I began moving he back to the couch.

After dropping him off I grabbed the first aid kit and placed it on the table next to the couch. "Warm water." I remembered as I move back into the kitchen and turned on the faucet. As I placed my hand under the water to monitor the temperature a shadow loomed behind me. Still recovering from my incident from that beast, I wasted no time whipping around and punching the shadow- only it was actually the man.

"Oh shit!" I cried, as the throbbing pain from my hand caused me to hold it tenderly. Remembering who'd I had just punched I looked up to find the man looking very dazed as he stared at my ceiling. "Oh my god. I'm so sorry! Are you okay? Well of course you're not okay, but, I mean, shit, shit, shit." I franitically looked him up and down, unsure what to do now.

"Ow." His reply came a few second later as his hand came up to his jaw and tenderly touched the now red area I had punched him in. He stroked his jaw for a moment, saying nothing. Finally he looked at me. "Nice punch."

I laughed nervously as I helped the man off the floor and once more back to the couch. "Try to stay here this time. I'm tired of picking you up." I moved back to the kitchen and filled up a bowl of the now hot water.

"What happened?" The man asked as I moved back into the living room.

"I should be asking you that. I was asleep when you rammed into my trailer. Rather violently might I add." I sat down next to the couch and opened the first aid kit. "I'd need you to take off your shirt."

"That's not necessary." His tone was distant and I looked him in the eye, suddenly very tired.

"Look, you were torn up pretty badly from what I can tell so here's what you're going to do for me. You're either going to take the damn shirt off or have a round two with that thing outside. Your choice."


	5. Chapter 4

The man looked at me for a moment, his strong gaze trying to intimidate me to leave him alone, but I returned it just as stubbornly.

"Off." I pointed at his shirt, my voice stern. Finally the man agreed and pulled off the strips of his shirt. Once again I felt my heart stop in my chest. This guy was ripped. Literally. Among his rippling abs and chest were five long scratches. "Odd. I could have sworn those were worse before." My eyes moved over the scratches.

"I told you- not necessary." I looked away from the wounds and into his eyes. His…beautiful hazel green eyes. Quickly looking away before he noticed my blushing.

"Well at any rate, we should bandage these up so they don't get infected." I opened up the first aid kit sitting on the table, pulled out an Ace bandage and started working on his wounds.

"So about what happened…" I began placing an antiseptic on the cuts. "Are you going to tell me or…?" I glanced upward cautiously at his eyes. He continued to study me with suspicion as I treated his wounds.

"Its really none of your business." Came his blunt reply. I paused for a moment and laughed softly.

"Okay. Hint taken." I returned to treating the cuts in silence. "Can I at least get a name, or is that information classified as well?" I smirked a few moments later. _Oh my god. Did I seriously just flirt with this guy? _I was seriously surprised at my boldness this evening.

The man said nothing for a moment, as if deciding either or not I could truly be trusted. He opened his mouth coming to a decision, but was not able to utter a word due a sudden shutter of his eyes and he turned his head.

"Hey. Hey. Come on now. Don't." I shuck him lightly fear suddenly blooming in my chest. I stood up and leaned over the man. I gingerly touched his face and pulled my hand back; his face was burning. "My goodness, you've got a fever." Standing I ran to the kitchen and frantically searching for something to bring down the fever.

Nothing. I couldn't find anything. This guy was going to die because I couldn't do anything to help him. I walked back to the couch and looked down at the man who lay there with his strong jaw…and delicate check bones. I crouched down next to him again and took his hand into my own. It was rough, but strong and yet underneath that hard, calloused surface there was a kindness.

"Please…please don't die." I held his hand tightly and kissed his knuckles. "Don't die on me." A moment passed and suddenly the man became silent as he stopped shifting. I looked up and at his face once again. Letting go of the man's hand I placed on his forehead and was relieved to find his fever had gone away. I smiled and sighed as his eyes opened slowly. "I thought I'd lost you for a moment there."

"Derek." He muttered quietly.

"Excuse me?" I asked him as I removed my hand from his forehead.

"My name." He spoke again. "My name is Derek. Derek Hale." Then he slept of his own accord and not of the fever. _Well it has been an interesting day. _I thought to myself. I stood and pulled the blanket out from underneath Derek's sleeping mass. My eyes paused upon his chest, surprised to find the wounds from before now faint lines of healed flesh.

"An interesting day indeed." I placed the blanket over Derek's bare chest and ran my hand over the woven fabric tenderly. Sitting down beside the couch I glanced down the hallway to where my bedroom was and pondered sleeping in my own bed. Derek's rhythmic breathing brought my attention back to him.

I smiled and laid my head down besides his body, a feeling of complete ease coming over me. Never before had I felt so safe in the presence of anyone else. Slowly my eyes began to grow heavy once again and I fell into the arms of sleep.


	6. Chapter 5

The warm air inside of the trailer was comforting to my lungs as I slowly breathed in and out. Slowly I opened my eyes and found myself staring up at the ceiling of my trailer. I closed my eyes again and rubbed them in attempt to rid myself of the sleepiness. I put my hands down and felt the woven fabric of my blanket greet my touch. Then it hit me. _Last night. _I opened my eyes again, now lying in the place Derek had been the night before. _Was it…just a dream…_I rolled my head to the side and found my first aid kit lying on the table.

"Not a dream.." I muttered my mouth dry and my head pounded. I turned and looked back at the ceiling wondering why I was lying in this place and not Derek. _He's gone. _It took but just a moment to realize it, and for a moment I was unbelievably sad. That one thing that had made me feel so safe and secure was gone, and once again there was nothing.

Pushing myself off of the couch, I wrapped the blanket around me and moved into the kitchen to pour another cup of water. Groggily I drank the cold water and waited for the pounding in my head to go away. I looked around at the digital clock, the red numbers reading that it was well into midday.

"Today is a hooky kind of day to be honest." I said taking another sip from the mug.

_Knock-knock. _The sound coming from the door was enough to surprise and frighten me. After last night, what happened in my front yard, I figured answering the front door was a hapless hazard. Another knock from the door followed and another.

"Hello?" A voice called from outside. It was a boy and he sounded about my age. I moved toward the door and gripping the baseball bat.

"Who's there?" I responded, entirely uneasy about having visitors.

"Uh, me. Me, Stiles. Just good ole' Stiles." His voice was ever so nervous. Releasing the bat I opened the door to the skinny boy. He looked at me for a moment while I too studied him over, unsure what to do. "Hello Belle."

"Hello Stiles." I wrapped the blanket tighter around me. "What do you need?"

"So…you weren't at school, and, well you know, you hear things…" Stile waved his hand behind him, indicating that he was talking about my yard. I looked beyond him and glanced at the yard, sure enough finding that the sunlight illuminated the damage from last night.

Only a small section of my picket fence continued to stand, and in the perfect circle of where my fence once stood was green grass; outside that line was nothing but torn up grass. Oddly enough the strange small purple flowers remained untouched.

"Drunk driver." I lied.

"Drunk driver? Right so he-"

"Drunk. Driver." My voice was calm and steady while I looked Stiles square in the eye. Stiles opened his mouth, but when he noticed my continued glare, smiled and packed his hands in his pockets.

"Yeah. No totally, makes complete sense." He smiled stupidly, knowing that I was lying but didn't really feel like pursuing the topic.

"Now that you've quenched your curiosity-" I turned to shut the door when a thought hit me. "Stiles, how do you know where I live?" His skin turned a shade lighter as he started to sputter and run his hand through his none existent hair.

"Wow, it is getting late. You know what they say- "a whole ten hours" and all." He turned to walk away quickly, but I snapped my hand out and gripped the back of his shirt. Stiles turned his head slowly, slightly chuckling until he noticed my dead serious face.

"You show up knowing something happened last night, yet you've never been to my home. Not to mention your whole behavior is just suspicious to boot." I released his collar as he turned back around to face me, though he avoided my gaze all together. "Do…do you know Derek?"

"More than I'm completely comfortable with actually." He joked, but I just nodded taking in the whole thing. I opened my mouth to question Stile more, but the sound of a truck coming up the gravel path stopped me. We both turned and saw a moving truck pull up into a trailers parking lot, just across the way from my own trailer. "New neighbors?"

"I guess; I'm not sure honestly. I could have sworn someone else already was living there…" I muttered as a red Ford Mustang pulled up behind the truck. The engine revived once more than died and out stepped two of the most unlikeliest characters to find in a trailer park.

"Oh my god…"Stiles gapped at the dazzling woman as she stepped out of the car, her Louis Vuitton high heels sinking into the dirt below the gravel path. Her short skirt showed off her mile long, tanned legs in all of their perfected beauty. Tumbles of dark brown curls cascaded down upon her shoulders and framed her angled face.

A man walked around the car, also stunning, and swept the woman off her feet, the sounds of her giggles bouncing off the other trailers.

"Well nothing odd about that picture." I leaned against the door frame and watched as they opened the door to their new trailer. Money like that didn't belong in the trailer park; they were up to something for sure, but that was for another time. I returned my gaze to Stiles. "So are you going to tell me more about Derek or what?"

"Between the two of you, I'm honestly more afraid of Derek. So no, no that'll about do it." Before I could question him further he jumped off of my porch and bound over to his blue Jeep parked in my small driveway.

Watching his car till it rounded the corner, I let everything that had just happened settle down inside my mind. Images from the night before flashed across my memory; growls and red eyes.

"Killer's eyes." I whispered to myself feeling a chill work its way down my spine no matter how tightly I wrapped the blanket to myself. I moved back inside my doorway and as I closed the door I glanced over to the new neighbors and caught a glance of the man studying me from across the way.

Moving back to the couch, I sat down numbly and thought back to Derek. The chill vanished into warmth in seconds.

"Derek Hale…who are you?"


	7. Chapter 6

The remainder of the day seemed to ebb away as the morning sun filtered through my red blinds, casting the room in its familiar light pink haze. Roaming through the trailer almost mindlessly, I began preparing for another day of school.

I moved into the bathroom and looked at my reflection as a stranger stared back at me. Her blonde hair ratty and in obvious need of a shower, mascara lightly smudged underneath her blue eyes which carried a far off look. This girl looked like she had seen hell, and lived to tell the tale. _Red eyes_… in the back of my mind I saw the dark looming figure staring me down from across the yard. Its eyes ripping through the very fabric of my being as if it was butter; stripping me down to nothing as I stood before it.

Peeling my eyes away from the mirror I returned to my morning duties of showering, but every time those popped into my head the warmth of the water wasn't enough to chase away the chill I growing in the pit of my stomach. _Come on. Pull yourself together._ I roughly rubbed my hands over my eyes, forcing the memories from the night before far into the back of my mind. _It was just a bear; a really big bear. And now it's gone. _

Long after the hot water turned cold, I left the shower and was finally ready to face the outside world once again. Picking up my backpack from beside the door I stopped one last time. _I am strong than my fear. I am a rock in the river- calm and unmoving _taking a deep breath I reached out and twisted the door knob.

The morning air rushed through the open door, blowing long wisps of my hair out of my face. I closed my eyes enjoying the feeling of the cold air in my lungs, the smell of the morning dew clinging to the grass, and the birds singing quietly.

"Today is just another day, Belle. You'll make it through just like you did the day before, and the day before that." Opening my eyes I quickly moved out of the door frame and down the metal stairs. Turning quickly to lock the door behind me, I stopped; someone was watching me and it made all of the hairs on my body stand on end. Causally glancing over my shoulder as my hands worked the lock; I took a quick survey of the surrounding area and wasn't surprised to find it empty. That would be too normal, nothing is ever normal in this town. Not after last night. Feeling the lock slide into place, I packed my keys into my bag and moved through the remnants of my yard, skipping over a clustered piece of my fence.

The gravel crunched beneath my feet rhythmically as I moved through the trailer park at a brisk pace. Only the faint morning light from the sun illuminated, just barely, the rooftops of the other trailers and the path before me. The feeling of someone watching continued no matter how fast I walked, until finally I stopped walking all together; partially from being tired from the fast walking the other from being fed up with being followed.

"Perhaps instead of creeping in the shadows behind me, you could come out and say whatever it is you need to say- to my face." I spoke loud enough for my voice to carry down the lane. Nothing moved, and the birds had all but stopped singing. Slowly I tensed my muscles and once again cast a glance over my shoulder, and dreaded finding the lane still empty. _Perhaps I'm over reacting. _

"Quite a sixth sense you've got there." A man's voice chirped from in front of me. In a flurry of movement, I pivoted on my heel and swung my fist at the man. He easily avoided the clumsy punch and smiled playfully. "Easy there tiger." Upon closure inspection I realized it was man who had moved in across the way from my trailer. As he raised his hands up in defense, a slender figured moved out beside him; the woman.

Both were wearing matching Gucci workout attire, but instead of looking like they had just come from a run, they appeared more as if they'd just come from a picture shoot. I said nothing as I watched the couple for a moment, still uneasy about their sudden appearance the day before.

"Well?" I spoke after a moment of intense silence.

"Well what?" The woman's voice was bitter as she sized me up. I was clearly no threat in the look department for this woman, so why she felt threatened by me was a mystery.

"I assume you were following me for a reason, or is that normal behavior where you're from?" I snapped right back becoming irritated. The man laughed lightly.

"Oh, right, sorry about that." He ran his muscular fingers through his hair. "We just came to introduce ourselves to our new neighbor." He extended his hand outward. "Name's Knox." When I didn't shake his hand, but gripped my backpack strap tighter he lowered his hand and turned to the woman standing, or more like groping, his arm. "And this beautiful plum is Ruby." She didn't even look at me when he spoke her name, but rather cooed in his ear.

"Well," I glanced around the lane and then back to the couple "welcome to the neighborhood. Wish I could stay and chat, but I've got a bus to catch." I moved around them before they could protest. After placing a few hundred yards between them and myself I glanced one final time over my shoulder only to see a vacant lane stretching out behind me. _I hate this town. _

The bus ride to school was reminiscent of all the other days I had ridden the bus to school; loud, smell and generally pestering. Once more I mindlessly gazed out the window, but in my head I fought the urge to recall anything from the night before, hoping only to make myself forget everything. No one would believe me, they would call me crazy, well crazier at any rate, and blame it on some form of drug- cast it off as nothing more than an illusion. Regaining focus on the passing concrete outside the window, a thought occurred to me- _I didn't do any of my homework. Oh, how fun this day is turning out. _I glanced down at my dinky wrist watch. _And its only 7_.

Descending the metal stairs, the now risen sun washed over my dark clothing, bathing me in a warmth that chased away all other feelings. Stopping, I glanced upwards toward the sun, squinting my eyes and holding my hand to shield them from the strong golden rays, I smiled. Letting my hand fall down to my side, I closed my eyes feeling as content as a cat sitting in the sun. I ignored the whispers as other students watched me, their judging eyes making no difference on my behavior; nothing could change how I was feeling in that moment. Well almost nothing.

"What's up kitty-cat?" Stiles' voice reverberated through my ear, effectively ruining my calm peace.

"Don't." I responded, not even bothering to open my eyes and glare at him.

""Don't"? Don't what? Don't breathe? Don't leave?"

"Don't," I looked at him and ran a hand through my warm hair "call me kitty-cat." I slid around him and walked through the tangled masses of the student body gathered outside.

"Hey! Wait up!" Stiles lumbered through the other students, as graceful as a three year old. "Belle! Excuse me. Pardon me. Hey buddy why don't you try standing somewhere that isn't here." Ignoring his pleas I pushed forward, knowing that if I stopped to wait for him I would be forced to explain what had really happened the night before. Something I wasn't too keen on remembering.

Quickly I moved into the main hallway of the school building, weaving between the students, hoping to lose Stiles' tail. With practiced ease I pivoted and flowed between bodies, not even alerting them to my presence, but as I reached the end of the large group my path was quickly cut off by another boy. Glancing at his face, I saw that his placement was not by accident, but rather he knew he was blocking my exit- my escape. I looked into his brown eyes, as they searched mine; looking for something I had hidden away. Stopping in my tracks I quickly looked around for another exit and saw one to the far left, leading away from the boy and Stiles. Moving through another group of students with less grace this time, a strong hand wrapped itself around my arm, halting my progress.

"Let me go." I hissed through bared teeth as I whipped my head around to face whoever had stopped me. Stiles' light brown eyes looked at me with a calm resolve.

"Please, Belle. We just want to talk to you." Pausing for a moment I glanced once more down the hallway, knowing my freedom was just an out stretched hand length away and then back at Stiles. This awkward boy, who I had met only a day before, was now unexplainably the key to understanding everything that had happen in the past 24 hours.

"Fine." I ripped my arm out of his hand and glared at him as he led me to the other boy who had first blocked my path.

Upon closer inspection, I recognized his friend as Scott McCall, the rising star of the lacrosse team- plus the crooked jaw was kind of a dead giveaway. As a group we moved out of the main hall into one of the less crowded stairwells. Jamming my hands into my pockets I followed in silence, my eyes studying the back of both Stiles' and Scott's heads. Now it was a commonly excepted fact among the student body that weird things seemed to happen around these two. Maybe running into Stiles had brought this weirdness upon me as well. _Worse gift ever. _

"So." Scott spoke after a moment of awkward silence. Slowly I glance upward into his eyes.

"Last night you saw something." Stiles' blurted out, tactlessly blunt. Shifting my eyes toward him, I saw the flash of red eyes again, but pushed the memory back.

"No. I think you're mistaken." I looked over at Scott. "I didn't see anything."

"Oh, yeah, that's right. It was a drunk driver." Stiles scoffed, but I ignored him.

"No. It was a bear, but I scared it away. End of story."

"A bear?"

"Yes. A bear."

"Belle…" Scott's voice was soft, as if he wasn't sure what to say.

"Don't "Belle" me. I don't care what I saw last night. All I know is that I want to forget about the whole thing all together." I tugged on my backpack strap and went to move up the stairs.

"Even Derek?" My actions betrayed my thoughts as I stopped halfway up the stairs, torn between moving forward or turning back. _They could tell me more about Derek…but at what cost? _As much as I yearned to know more about Derek, I dreaded learning more about the thing with red eyes. Hesitantly I walked back down the stairs and stood as far away as I possibly could from the two boys. I wrapped my arms around my chest, firmly holding myself as I looked into their eyes.

"That thing…wasn't a bear." Scott began. "It was a werewolf."


	8. Chapter 7

A moment of silence gripped the air, stiffening it to an unbearable awkwardness. Neither party dared to move, or even speak, for fear of the other's reaction.

"Fuck you." I spoke finally, hanging my head down in disbelief.

"What?"

"I said "fuck you"." I snapped my head up, my words saturated with pent up anger. "What kind of a game is this for you, huh? Do you think I haven't been bullied my entire life by bullshit like this?" Balling up my fist, I unfolded my arms and moved to walk up the stairs.

"Wait! Belle-" Scott's hand gripped mine, but in disgust I ripped it away from him.

"Leave. Me. Alone." My skin began to burn as the anger welted up inside of me. Something in my voice seemed to relay the message clearly to Scott as he reluctantly took a step backwards, but his eyes showed that there was much more to be said. _Nothing you have to say will interest me, McCall. _I thought to myself as I whipped around and headed back up the stairs before either one of the boys came back to their senses.

By now the first bell had already rung and the hallways had long been deserted of students, only the stragglers and delinquents wondered the white corridors now; myself included. With my back pack strap crossing my chest, I gripped the cloth with sweating hands trying to soothe the racing emotions in my heart. _They were just messing with you. Werewolves are NOT real. _I had convinced myself that their ploy was nothing more than another attempt by the lacrosse team to ruffle my feathers as they tried every year; some sort of initiation I had been told by other students. _And now Scott and Stiles are attempting to pull the wool over my eyes by taking advantage of the events of the past few days. Fucking assholes. _I bit the inside of my cheek as I walked up to my locker, almost mindlessly turning the dial to the correct combination.

Opening the metal door to the cool air within, I finally took a deep breath and forced myself to calm down. As my mind began to settle, I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up; so caught up in my own anger I had been unaware of something else- I was being watched. Ever so slowly I turned my head to the side and casually glanced over my shoulder and sure enough found a lurking shadow standing down the hall. Although failing to act natural, as soon as I turned my head to catch a better glance at who or whatever was watching me, it blended back into the shadows making it impossible to tell what had been watching me. Turning back to my locker with renewed haste, I collected my books and slammed the door shut causing a loud echo to bounce off the metal walls.

After extensive apologizing to my first period teacher in front of the entire class, I took my seat by the window and zoned out of his lecture about the evolution of life, or something like that. No matter how hard I tried to forget what had just transpired moments before I couldn't shake the feeling that I was still being watched, and worse still, followed. Even after first period had ended and I moved through the rushing hallways of bodies, it always felt as if someone were only two steps behind me, but no matter how hard I tried to catch a glimpse of whoever it was, they were gone- vanished into shadow once more. Instead of eating lunch in the cafeteria, I had opted to help a favored teacher with one of his sophomore classes. For that period alone I felt comfortable enough to relax, but dreaded moving into my final class of the day, knowing that it meant leaving the security of this place. As the bell rang and the sophomores eagerly flooded into the hallways I tried my best to blend in with them, and the moment I moved through that open doorway, I could sense the presence following me once again, but something was different this time. The presences felt…lost, confused almost. _Now's my chance. _

I stopped moving with the foot flow and quickly turned around, my blonde hair whipping out at my sides as I looked behind me for the shadow that had been haunting my the entire day- and I caught him. Even though it was only for a moment, the minute our eyes meet I permanently burned an image of the boy's face in my mind, although I was certain I wouldn't have forgotten it either way. His skin was pale, almost translucent as it contrasted to his blue green eyes staring back into mine. Eyes that could burn a hole through your entire soul, eyes that had seen more trouble than they desired, and eyes that held an unfathomable sadness to them. The universe stopped and even the breath still caught in my lungs evaporated into nothingness as I felt those eyes staring through me as they searched for something still hidden to him.

"Excuse me." A voice broke the trance and a blur of brunette hair passed between the boy and myself, and the universe moved forward again. The boy had vanished into shadow once again, no doubt lurking around a corner, for I still felt his presence watching me. _Who are you? _Slowly my eyes scanned the passing faces, searching for him once again, but I came up empty handed. Shifting my shoulders uncomfortably, I too returned to the flow of the crowd but remain alert to the presence.

Taking my seat inside the classroom beside the window, I removed my backpack and set it down on the floor next to my desk. Leaning back in the hard plastic seat I glared out the window, a million thoughts running through my head each one leading down a different avenue of possibility. _Why am I being followed? Who is following me? And better yet, why is this happening now? _I softly bit the inside of my cheek again and my gazed shifted toward the open door leading into the hallway. The lockers beyond the door were blue, and seemed to be reflected onto the white floor, casting a strange blue hew throughout the narrow corridor. Mulling over the thoughts in my head for a moment longer, I grew impatient with my own inaction about the situation laid at my feet. Standing up slowly as to not draw attention to myself, I moved through the clustered students without disturbing anyone to my presence. Reaching the back of the room, I cast a glance over at the teacher's desk where he sat with his nose planted firmly within his book, not even paying the slightest attention to what was going on in the classroom. Turning the knob quietly I slid out the narrow opening of the door into the abandoned blue hallway.

As the door moved quietly back into the jam, I turned and looked down the hallway searching for the familiar shadow that had been following me all day. Unfortunately he seemed to have retreated further into the shadows beyond my sight of what was before me, but I could still sense him, watching. Taking a deep sigh, I pulled my hood up over my head and moved in the opposite direction of the boy, hoping he would be foolish enough to follow me. _And here he comes. _I smirked under the safety of my hood as I felt the boy's presence silently follow my footsteps. Careful not to scare the boy away I pretended to not notice him following me but instead moved down a small flight of stairs and take a right; as if I was going to the restroom.

Rounding the corner and disappearing out of sight, I quickly moved myself to lay flat against the wall of lockers. I slowed my breathing and forced my heart to remain quiet and calm as I waited just around the corner for the unsuspecting boy to follow me. Honing my hearing to the point it hurt, I listened and waited for the sounds of footfalls to echo off, well anything. For a moment nothing moved, nothing made a sound, until…_there!_ Ever so faintly the lightest of footsteps descended down the stairs and everything then moved in a furry of cloth and blonde hair.

Snapping my arm out from around the corner, as a snake lunges out to grab its prey, I dug my finger nails into the fabric of the boy's shirt long before he had any idea what was happening. Using all of my weight and added momentum, and not to mention his complete shock, I slammed him into the nearest wall causing a loud bang to echo through the empty hallways. Still unable to comprehend what had exactly what happened the boy didn't move for a good long moment but stared blankly into my eyes.

"Who are you?" I clenched his shirt with both of my fist and applied all of my weight on him to keep him from moving. My voice seemed to have awakened him from his shock and he studied me for a long moment.

"There's definitely more to you than meets the eye." He avoided the question and instead grabbed my hands and rushed me. Taken by surprise as the boy practically lifted me off the ground and back me into the adjacent wall with my arms pinned up against the wall. "However you're not as strong as you think you are." My cheeks burned with embarrassment, knowing full well that what he said was right, as he'd just proven. _Damn. Well this falls under the "bad idea" category. _

"Okay, well, I guess you're right. Now please let me go." I'd become increasingly aware of our awkward situation, for if anyone was to walk down the hallway, well it would put us in a very precarious position.

"No, I don't think I will." Apparently he didn't seem to understand the situation the same way.

"I'll scream."

"You wouldn't." I opened my mouth and drew in a large gulp of air, fully prepared to unleash an ear splitting scream when the message finally went through. "Alright! Alright!" The boy whispered letting go of my wrists and placing a few feet between us.

"Now," I rubbed my wrist surprised at how strong his grip actually was "who are you?"

"No one of interest. You attacked me first anyway." was his defiant response, and he crossed his arms over his grey shirt. His biceps bulged as he did so and I had to keep from practically swooning _Swoon later. This is serious. _I scolded myself.

"You've been following me all day. And don't" I continued as he opened his mouth to protest "even try to deny it was you. I saw you last period as I left class and now after all of this." I waved my hand around the area indicated the events that had just taken place. The boy was silent for a moment as he uncrossed his arms and stuffed his hands into his pockets, leaning forward till he seemed to even been looming over me. Looking to his left, his eyes glazed over and I could tell that he was working something over inside his head. I took a step closer. "Look, whatever it is, I want you to tell me. What do you want with me?" Those last words sent a tingle down my spine as I haplessly glanced at his arms and face. _He is handsome…No! I didn't mean like that! GOD woman, think straight. _Lost in my own perverted thoughts I hadn't noticed the boy had also drawn closer to me as well.

"A mutual friend." He spoke finally, pulling me away from my own daydream. Looking up into his eyes I froze- our faces were only inches apart. Neither of us moved as the sexual tension began to build up and it took every ounce of my being to not lunge myself at the boy and kiss him.

"Uh, what," I took a step back and collected my thoughts again. "what friend? I don't really have a whole lot of friends. Like any." Before he could say anything else, something in the distance caught his attention.

"Isaac!" Scott's voice boomed through the amazingly still empty hallway, practically rattling the doors off the lockers. I peeled my eyes away from Isaac and up to Scott as he glared down at the boy, and then returned my glare to Isaac.

"Jesus fucking Christ!" I shouted and shoved Isaac's very solid body into the opposite wall. "You were working with Scott? Are you in on this whole "werewolf" thing too?" Slowly he nodded, but he almost seemed confused about the situation going on in front of him. Either that or he was surprised I'd managed to push him into the lockers. Again. I seethed silently, but was sure that it showed on my face as I gave Scott a glare that even made him recoil.

Balling my fist, I moved away from Isaac and began walking up the stairs toward Scott. He started taking steps backwards with both of his hands raised up in defense.

"Wait, Belle, I can explain-"His panic quickly turned into confusion as I moved right past him completely ignoring everything and anything he said. As I walked down the hallway I choked down the tears that were forming and forced myself to stand tall. _Never let them see you cry. _

Everything after that was kind of a blur of anger and sadness. I walked back into the classroom much to the surprise of everyone, for even after all of that time no one had noticed I had gone missing. All eyes watched me with hinted curiosity as I made my way to my seat and sat down with my hands folded neatly in my lap. Their interest only lasted for a few seconds longer as they quickly returned to their own conversations, brushing me off as nothing more than the "weird girl". Even as the bell rang, I didn't move for a long while, letting the remainder of my peers filter through the doors and into the hallway. As the classroom fell silent and the last of the stragglers talked among themselves as they slowly walked through the hallway in no clear rush to return home. Collecting my bag I too finally stood up from my seat and walked through the vacant desk, lost in the vast emptiness of my own mind. I didn't dare to form a thought about what had just happened and how everything seemed to be falling apart at the seams. _Why did this have to happen during my senior year? My last year here in this god forsaken place and NOW shit decides to hit the fan. _Slowly I moved down the steps, each step vibrating throughout my entire being and rocking my joints with an unrelenting force as everything weighed down upon my shoulders. Stopping in front of the double doors that would lead me out into the open air, I took a deep breath and ran my hand through my hair feeling the strands slither through my fingers. Pushing on the warm metal bar I walked out into the sunlight, the warmth having no effect over the dread as it had this morning. All the fight had been drained out of me today and all I wanted was to return home and take a long nap. _Of course that is, after I finish the two days of homework I've been putting off. _

I glanced around the open parking area searching for the late bus, or rather the bus for people who were either to slow or stupid to get to their own bus in time. Which, today looked like to only be me. I gazed down the road and felt my heart sink as I watched the two tail lights of the bus moving down the road with black exhaust smoke sputtered out of the tailpipe.

"Oh you've got to be kidding me!" I exclaimed and honestly just contemplated giving up and lying on the ground in front of the school in exhaust of the whole day. _Everything is working against me, isn't it?_ I looked up at the sky as the sun sat dangerously low on the tree line in the distance threatening to cast me into shadow. "I guess I'm walking home."

Now, Beacon Hills High School is located right next to the Beacon Hills Wildlife Reservation and if you've lived in this town long enough you know that freaky stuff goes down in those woods on a daily basis; And it just gets weirder the darker it gets. Even the sheriff had warned people to avoid the woods if at all possible, especially at night. Hell not that long ago they found a woman's body torn in half by some psycho, or as many speculated, a very large animal.

Of course it wasn't always like this. It used to be pretty normal; in fact people usually went for jogs through the woods to get away from the run down sights of Beacon Hills. I was one of those people, but the really weird stuff started happening around the beginning of the school year so I thought it better to avoid unnecessarily going into the woods and just job around dreary Beacon Hills.

So there I was, walking through the woods, all of these wonderful thoughts about dead bodies and savage animals running rampant in my imagination. Reaching my hand into my bag I pulled out a worn hair band and pulled my hair back into a messy top bun, having become irritated with having to continuously push it out of my eyes. I wrapped my arms around myself and kept my eye on the horizon knowing the path way to the trailer park through the woods fairly easily. _I used to jog to school during track season when I was a junior. _Though it had been a while, the woods always felt familiar and almost welcoming, even now as the sky began to shine with the last rays of the late afternoon sun. I looked up at the blue sky through the multitude of branches and for the first time since the day began, felt all of the tension melt away. Stopping to enjoy the fleeting moment, when I opened my eyes again something in the distance caught my eye. _A…chimney stack? _


End file.
